Christmas time is here....and gone

Christmas has come and gone, so fast. It seems each year it is here and gone before I know it. I really tried to enjoy each part of it, although I think all moms get caught up in the list making and the crossing off, the evening out of the gifts, did I get this person enough? You know how it is. I think I will leave my tree up at least another week, then we can get to the business of 2010. Lots of things happening in the coming year. My oldest will be getting married in May, we are super excited about that. I will finally be finished with MTSU in December and moving on to finish my Masters in nursing. Monty has some good changes coming up at work and we are so blessed to have Will with us at home for exactly nine and a half more years according to his dad. I say he can stay longer. Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays!

Can't wait for 2010!!!

Friday Night Smackdown and Chappaquiddick

I woke up this morning and saw on the news that Teddy Kennedy had passed away. No matter what your take on the "liberal lion", one thing is true, both sides of the aisle gave him respect. His life was riddled with tragedy and self- admitted vices, but his idealism and constant search for common solutions, made him a champion for the regular Joe.


I grew up in a conservative household. I don't remember ever talking about politics or being told how to believe, but I did find myself taking on the beliefs of my church and the private Christian school I attended. I remember hearing about Chappaquiddick in school and just assumed this man was a "bad" person. As I grew older and began to realize I could actually think for myself, I saw a man who pulled himself up amidst a terrible hand dealt and decided to do the right thing. I see a man who helped seniors receive more help with their medication costs, children who get a better education, and Americans with disabilities who received the rights we all enjoy. Do I see a perfect man? No, are any of us perfect?
I think the good he did will live on.


My youngest son is nine and much to my dismay LOVES to watch wrestling. Yes, that wrestling, the makeup wearing, costume donning, chair throwing wrestling. I am hoping it's a stage, like Star Wars and Sonic the Hedgehog was, but so far, it has lasted a while. So this morning during a commercial for the next big match, he pointed out a certain character. I asked, "Is he a good guy or a bad guy?" to which he replied, "MOM! We don't like him, so he's a bad guy!".

Wow, how many times is that the case, we don't like him, we disagree with his political bent, he made a mistake in his life, so he MUST be a bad guy. From the mouth of babes, huh?



RIP Teddy.

I need nausea medicine, oh and another cheeseburger...

42 days, no sugar. Finally the headaches are over and the one good thing about those, is that you remember how bad they are and don't want to go through them again. This helps with any thoughts of cheating....it's just not worth it.

Luckily, the crabbiness is over also, seeing that last month we began last trimester clinicals. I have a good group this year for the most part, but there are always a few, whew. We are rotating through maternal-child and they think they have died and gone to heaven. No NG tubes, barely a catheter, no patients with 20 different medications, and semi-happy staff nurses that like their job, and the babies...oh the babies!!! Pretty cushy. Until......OMG, how am I going to get that patient out of bed? What do you mean how? You go in there and tell her "we are getting up now"---I have literally had to push students into rooms, they are so terrified.
It has always amazed me, the wide scope of pain tolerance in people. I can have a mom, four hours post c/section that hops up out of bed and tries to clean her own room, and a mom with the easiest natural birth that wants to lay in bed for days. I teach my students that everyone is different and we cannot label one or the other as a difficult patient and that pain is whatever the patient says it is. They seem to have a hard time with that one. "But Mrs. Miller, she says her pain is a 9 and she is smiling and laughing" (we use a pain scale of 1-10, 1 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain you have ever experienced). And yes, there are people that are evidently experiencing the pain of a conscious amputation while sucking down chili cheese fries from Sonic, talking on their cell phone and fighting with their boyfriend, all at the same time. Is it our place to judge what their pain is? Nope, it is what they say it is. This is a hard concept for students to grasp, but they are getting it.
It's all about non-judgemental nursing care.

Casualties of war

I thought that this Memorial Day, I would write about Cpl. Robert Oliver "Butch"Garant, USMC. This man was killed in the Vietnam War in 1966, they call it a casualty, I call it a travesty. This man was smart, with a great future ahead of him, this man was brave, this man was wise beyond his years. This man was 21 years old when he died and the father of an 18 month old daughter--me.

When I say I oppose the war, but support the troops, I come from a very personal place. I'm not thinking of oil, WMD, or "evil doers". I am thinking of children, wives, mothers and fathers. Christmas presents that will never be opened, hugs and kisses never given, daughters never walked down the aisle, sons never able to see their future in the eyes of their parent.

Aside from the reasons we "war" as a country, aside from lies we will never know about, aside from all that, war is devastating. I think we can all agree on that.

I have to admit I have a hard time watching the soldiers come home, the joyous reunions, the tears and the embracing. It is bittersweet to me. I deserved that, the children of the 4300 (4161 since 'Mission Accomplished') who have lost their lives in Iraq, deserve that too. How long will we continue to count the "casualties"?

War is bad in any respect, but war for the wrong reasons is shameful. I respect and appreciate our troops, I pray for our troops....let's bring them home so that in 20, 30 or 40 years this blog will not have to be re-written.

Gather your supplies: an enema, IV tubing, coffee and a ham sandwich

The nursing program where I teach had a guest speaker come in this week and speak to a group of nursing students. Nursing students from surrounding areas within our system came, so there were probably 200 there. The fellow's name was Erie Chapman. He has written four books and been the CEO of several hospitals. He began his career as an attorney, then Federal prosecutor, then sort of backed into health care by accident. He became the CEO of several hospitals, including Baptist in Nashville from 1998-2002, before the evil Ascension Health bought them out. He is now a keynote speaker and CEO of "Baptist Healing Trust"
http://www.baptisthealingtrust.org/about/index.php.
He is considered the leader of the loving care movement and authored the book "Radical Loving Care-Building the new healing hospital in America". Interesting stuff.

I won't go on and on about how great this guys ideas for health care are, but I will say, if we all practiced this way, health care today would be a different story. I think it was good for the students to hear and I hope that some of it sank in.
I truly wish that hospitals would allow nurses to really care for their patients. With less staff (to save money) and sicker patients, it just isn't happening. Long gone are the days of the "bedside nurse". Nurses now are unit secretaries, technicians and transporters, and primary care givers.

I had one of my students come to the nurse's station last week because I told her that her patient had called out and needed her. She ran up to the desk, her eyes all lit up, so excited, with visions of catheters, IVs, and other invasive procedures running through her head. She asked me what he needed and I said, coffee with a cream and two sugars. Her face fell and she said, Really? are you kidding?
Welcome to nursing.

Umm, umm, what's an um-biblical cord???

Well today was career day at my youngest's school, and I bit. This is my first time participating and I have to say, even though I get up in front of students daily and speak, I was a bit nervous about how this would go. I decided to talk about being a mother-baby nurse since that is what I had spent to most time doing in my 22 year nursing career. I even bought a baby doll to demonstrate the "swaddling" technique, since with only boys I don't have any of them just laying around the house. I couldn't compete with the year my husband actually brought a horse to career day, but I did bring a teeny BP cuff that seemed to be a big hit.
What I didn't realize was that I would have to say the exact same thing seven different times in 30 minute segments. By the end, I couldn't remember who I had told what. I did however catch on by the second go round to remind the kids (2nd-3rd grades) that there is a difference between questions and stories.

So here are some funny questions AND stories that I heard today:
How does the baby get out of the mom exactly?
Why does the baby look so ugly when it comes out?
How does the doctor know if it's a boy or a girl?
Does the mom just poop it out?
Does it hurt when they cut the um-biblical cord?
What if your eye bleeds and won't stop, will you die?
My mom said that in the hospital, it's just like a hotel and you just push a button and they will bring you anything you want to eat.
My sister has three babies and they all have different dads.
Why does poop stink?
Why does a mom ride in a wheelchair and blow "poof-poof-poof" when she is having a baby?
I saw my baby sister through the window in the nursery and my grandma said she didn't look anything like my dad.
My momma said the white stuff is on the baby when it comes out so the doctor can push it back in if it's not done.
I had a friend who ran over a bird with his bike and he got the swine flu.
and........
My mom said when I was born my dad didn't help her at all, she says he is lazy and just drinks beers and watches wrestling all day.

Lose a uterus, get a casserole......

I made my mom's famous "Chef's Casserole" the other night. I love it when people say that...I am making my famous this or famous that...who in the world but them thinks it's famous? Anyway, to me, her casserole is famous. As I was sweating the onions, ok, I just wanted to say that (food network) it really has no bearing on the story. I did however want to give a shout out to her years of yummy cooking.

Comfort food is important in the South. It is sort of a name recognition game you can play, shout out a southern woman's name and you can immediately identify her most famous dish. Try it, seriously.

I remember an old devotional book mom had while I was growing up called "A Plate of Hot Toast". The stories in it were cute and sweet, but mostly I think she used that book to make memories. I was blessed to have a stay at home mom most of my life, but even when she went to work when I was in my teens and my sisters were young, she was always sure she was home when they got home from school with something good to eat for a snack. If not, a whatchmacallit candy bar and a coke at the store was always fun.

Another thing southern women do is that we always bring food when someone has had surgery. The larger the organ removed the larger the meal. For example, a measly appendectomy may get you a plate of cookies, while a gallbladder may rate a red velvet cake. A hysterectomy will always at least get you a spaghetti pie from me and if they took your ovaries, I'll throw in a side salad. I've never had to cook for a liver transplant, I imagine that would take all week! I have also learned over the years to use disposable containers, because trust me, you will never get them back.

Here's my Mom's "famous" Chef's Casserole recipe, enjoy!!


1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 onion, diced garlic to taste
1 T. oil
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can golden mushroom soup
2 T. milk
1 pkg. wide egg noodles
1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese

Brown garlic, onion and beef in oil and drain. Boil noodles and drain. Mix all ingredients together and bake at 350 for 45 minutes (9 x 13)

Sustas and such...

Yesterday I got to hear the rushing of the creek behind our new place that is being renovated. I stood on the two planks that are left from the old back porch and imagined how I would sit and read and while away the time on Sunday afternoons just listening to the silence. Then I remembered I have a nine year old and there is no silence, but it was nice while it lasted. I have to admit that I am, and always have been a city girl, but I am ready to take this on. I envision a garden and flowers and such. My baby sister (28) has an organic garden, a compost pile, avidly recycles, she's a real earthy girl (today my youngest called her a hippie, trust me, she will be flattered). She trained to be a midwife and was a doula for a few years, she now teaches high school English, literature and several other subjects. I am sure if she is reading this, she is cringing at my overuse of the comma. She is beautiful without even trying, it's really disgusting.

My other sister (38) is also a teacher and the mother of the cutest red headed boy ever to be birthed. She is one of the strongest people I know, with a vicious faith and love of God. She is beautiful too, of course, and a great multi-tasker.We are all so different.

I remember once the three of us were in a bookstore in Nashville. We walked in and #3 said "I wonder where the natural childbirth section is?". I said, "I wonder where the nursing section is?" and middle sis said, " Point me towards the c/section." I love that we can be so different and love and respect each other still, so much.That's the ticket.

Political Correctness

I saw this quote on a friend’s Facebook page, "Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical, liberal minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end." I never respond to things like this, I don’t engage, it never ends well and is just a waste of time. There are always a lot of responses to posts like these, the yee haws, the Amens, the “truer words were never spoken”, I don’t consider any of these well thought out responses, knee-jerk at best.
First of all, the “liberal minority” is no longer the minority. If they were, McCain would be sitting on Pennsylvania Avenue. I think it is really out of touch for Christians, to think everyone thinks and looks like they do, and maybe just a tad bit arrogant. I know there are those people who have the “south will rise again” mentality and sleep with their guns. You can’t argue with that, no need to try. There are also Christians out there who are left leaning, why can’t we all get along?
Secondly, why is a person delusional and irrational just because he doesn't agree with you? I have never understood this way of thinking. But the quotation made me think, which I suppose is a good thing.
I know that people throw the term “politically correct” around like a baseball and I think when we think of it, we feel some kind of right is being taken away or we will have to behave in a way we don’t agree with. Are we straining out a gnat to swallow a camel? (Matt 23)
I walked downstairs this morning and said to my youngest (9) that his Dad was headed to buy a chainsaw and work on his barn. He immediately asked why and I told him to cut down some posts in the barn. He said, Oh good, I thought if you were going to say he was cutting down trees I was going to say “HEY global warming!’ I don’t think I taught him that (sadly), it was probably that unscrupulous mainstream media, darn them! In reality he learned about it in school (yes a public school). I got to thinking, should this bother me? Is he being brainwashed or should I be glad he is concerned about the environment? I remember a conversation my oldest son (23) was having with someone at my home one day. It was during the pre-election time and she said, I don’t really like McCain, but I guess I have to vote for him (because her parents were). He said, you are kidding me... why? She had no answer. I love that my child could think for himself and just expect others to do the same.
It is my choice to not own a gun. Do I think it is terribly irresponsible for a parent to have a gun in the house with a child, sure? Is it my right to tell them they can’t, nope? I can feel good about my choices and know that I am being true to what I believe is best for me.
So is political correctness wrong? Is it something to get all worked up about? Is it bad that we are not offensive to others in our speech or actions? Are our rights to be offensive being taken away?
When I lecture, I cover cultural competence in nursing in all subjects. We discuss how nurses must give non-judgmental care. How we respect other cultures and have to train ourselves in that way. We pull the curtain to insure privacy yes, but for our Muslim patients, we go the extra mile of being sure we pull the curtain the correct way so if a man is walking past, he does not see in the room. Is this too politically correct or is it just common courtesy?
I love the verse in Micah that tells us what God requires of us, to act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God. I think if we can look back on our day and know that we have been merciful and humble, we can feel good. Humility is required, plain and simple. Yee Haw!